A sub-regional economic approach
With 10X driving ambition at the macro regional level and councils leading economic development at a local level in partnership with partners such as Invest NI, the Department is considering the sub-regional approach and how these three levels can link together to strengthen the economy.
What is Place?
Place at its most general refers to three main components:
- location – where it is on a map, e.g. an area, city, town, or village;
- locale – the material social setting, e.g. workplaces, shops, neighbourhoods, churches; and
- a sense of a place – how we feel emotionally about a location or locale.
Taken together it can be an idea of identity and belonging, both physically and culturally, and allows some to define the special quality of a place.
When used in policy making and programme development it demands that those designing interventions are aware of the uniqueness of a place while working with those based there to design initiatives to are complementary and specialised.
Place based interventions are not simply a local version of a macro approach, they often aim to tackle an inequality or disadvantage too. In this way, place based interventions can accelerate the development of a more robust local ecosystem, identifying and unlocking capability while removing systematic weaknesses.
This means working to build on the existing strengths of a place: its people and its businesses, councils and community organisations, local knowledge, and experience, and agreeing how to use these assets to harness this untapped potential to deliver inclusive and sustainable change.
What is Place10X?
DfE’s responsibility is the economic remit, and as place refers to a much broader concept encompassing the work of other NI Executive departments such as community, justice, education, and health, there is a need to distinguish what the Department can and cannot do.
Place 10X is used here to remove any confusion with the wider concept. This is the start of a conversation that will lead to a strategic approach to determine what intervention and support is required within the economic remit, and to determine what role the Department for the Economy can and should play in places across Northern Ireland.
Call for Evidence
We are seeking your views on what a sub-regional economic approach should look like. This Call for Evidence is to create a body of information which will inform policy makers and a future Minister in the Department for the Economy of what central intervention and support is needed or wanted.
We are also looking for your thoughts on the best way to measure success. We would like you to share your thoughts on these so that we can co-produce a collective approach to sub-regional economic initiatives.
You can answer the questions above and you can offer any relevant statements or evidence by sending a written response to the Place10X Team by 9 July 2023.
Get in touch
We would like to speak with organisations and stakeholders to discuss Place10X and if you’d like to take part in those conversations, please let us know at Place10X@economy-ni.gov.uk.